The Life Aquatic with
Steve Zissou

Laura Clifford

Robin Clifford

In an Italian coastal town, a film society reacts oddly to
the twelfth part of a favored documentary series, "The Life Aquatic with
Steve Zissou."

Laura:
Writer/director Wes Anderson ("Rushmore," "The Royal Tenenbaums") goes to
the well once too often with his formula for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic
world view. "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" has its small pleasures,
but mostly it just flaps around like a dying fish, its quirks colliding awkwardly
and sending it off course.

Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is a womanizing Jacques Cousteau-like character,
if Cousteau had no real background in marine biology, whose funding is drying
up as his popularity wanes. Even after Zissou's most recent film ends with
the cliffhanger of his beloved partner Esteban's (Seymour Cassell) death
by an unknown shark species, his announcement that the followup will be the
hunting of said beast attracts no investors. Things begin to look up
when Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) introduces himself as a member of the Zissou
Society and, quite possibly, Steve's son. He's also got the cash to
fund the next voyage. But once Ned's been recruited into Team Zissou,
trouble flares - Ned's wife Eleanor (Angelica Huston) does not approve, Ned's
right hand man Klaus (Willem Dafoe) is jealous and Steve finds himself in
competition with his son for the favors of comely, pregnant reporter Jane
Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett).

There is no mistaking "The Life Aquatic" as an Anderson film. It begins
with his beloved proscenium arch which frames Zissou's film and is chaptered
with such amusing titles as 'Mutiny on the Bellafonte.' Children come
to terms with difficult parental figures and cross-generational romantic
rivalry. Team Zissou's collection of 'experts' are a reflection of
both the dysfunctional Tenenbaums and Max Fischer's various school clubs.

Writing this time with Noah Baumbach ("Mr. Jealousy") instead of his usual
partner of Wilson may be one of the reasons Anderson's brand of melancholy
humor never gels this time, but the deadpan line delivery which Anderson
has seemingly directed is definitely off. Action scenes, where the
Bellafonte is boarded by pirates who kidnap the 'bond company stooge' Bill
Ubell (Bud Cort, "Harold and Maude") and where Team Zissou rescues him, look
like Anderson filmed kids at play with fake guns - a cute idea perhaps, but
one that doesn't sustain itself. Team Zissou may be a self-proclaimed
'bunch of misfits,' but their bumbling lacks any element of slapstick.

Murray's usual wry schtick contains none of the shading that made him so
memorable in "Rushmore" and "Lost in Translation." In fact, I only
noted one inspired little piece of comedy from the actor when he undulates
to the cheesy Euro-synth theme he has piped into his headphones. Otherwise
Murray generally seems too lazy to work up any edge to his performance, coming
across as vaguely ticked off. Angelica Huston executes deadpan delivery
more successfully, wearing hauteur well. Dafoe gets perhaps the most
laughs, but he is invaluably assisted by his costuming. Blanchett,
the outsider of the group, has the most leeway in creating a character, but
she's not a very engaging one. Wilson gives what we've come to expect
and is a welcome presence. In smaller roles, Jeff Goldblum as Zissou's
wealthier, spacey rival and cult favorite Bud Cort add their own flavors,
but crew members played by Noah Taylor ("Shine"), Robyn Cohen, Niels Koizumi,
Waris Ahluwalia and Pawel Wdowczak are mere wallpaper. "City of God's"
Seu Jorge, on the other hand, makes a huge contribution with his acoustic
covers of old Bowie songs sung in Portuguese.

Aquatic themes have been slowly growing in Anderson's films and stop-motional
animator Henry Selick ("The Nightmare Before Christmas") is brought aboard
the production to create delightful, candy-colored sea creatures, but production
designer Mark Friedberg doesn't create an environment worthy of them.
A cross section of the Bellafonte lets us watch its crew at work like an
ant farm, but has none of the character definition of the Tenenbaum mansion
created by David Wasco. Underwater sequences are only notable for the
creatures they contain. Milena Canonero is more up to the task of equaling
the work of Anderson's former costume designer Karen Patch, outfitting the
Team in matching baby blue jumpsuits and Speedos all topped with unique red
caps (or turban in the case of cameraman Vikram). Composer Mark Mothersbaugh's
score sounds like a rehashing of his earlier work with Anderson, but music
supervisor Randall Poster once again proves invaluable with his song selections.

Watching "The Life Aquatic" calls to mind the old adage 'Dying is easy...comedy
is hard.' Using elements that have worked before, Anderson can't keep this
film afloat.